Outcomes and risk factors for cardiac surgery during pregnancy: a 13-year, two-centre, retrospective cohort study.

Background: Cardiac surgery during pregnancy is complex and has significant risks for mothers and infants. The clinical outcomes and risk factors for complications are largely unknown. This study aimed to analyse the outcomes of cardiac surgeries during pregnancy and to investigate the risk factors for maternal postoperative outcomes from the two largest referral centres for pregnant patients with complex cardiac disease in northern and southern China.

γ-Glutamyl transpeptidase-activable nanoprobe crosses the blood-brain barrier for immuno-sonodynamic therapy of glioma.

Effective treatment against glioma remains challenging nowadays because the protective blood-brain barrier (BBB) impedes drug penetration into brain and the limited efficacy of conventional chemotherapy. While strong positively charged nanoparticles have good permeability through the BBB, they often come with the caveat of cationic toxicity to healthy tissues and organs during blood circulation. Here we show a neutrally charged nanoprobe with a surface decorated with γ-glutamyl moieties that can be cleaved by γ-glutamyl transpeptidase, an enzyme overexpressed on brain capillaries.

A Multifunctional Nanodrug Increases the Therapeutic Sensitivity of Lenvatinib to Hepatocellular Carcinoma by Inhibiting the Stemness of Hepatic Cancer Stem Cells.

Drug resistance resulting from diverse mechanisms including the presence of cancer stem cells (CSCs) is the main obstacle for improving therapeutic efficacy of lenvatinib in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Herein, a nanomedicine (siCD24-Len-MnO@PLAP) is developed by incorporating manganese oxide (MnO), lenvatinib (Len), and siRNA against CD24 (siCD24) into micelles composed of methoxypolyethylene glycol (mPEG), poly-L-lysine (PLLys), and polyasparagyl(N-(2-Aminoethyl)piperidine) (PAsp(PIP)) triblock copolymer. The nanomedicine can respond to the tumor microenvironment (TME) to release lenvatinib, and produce Mn and O, accompanied by changes in nanoparticle charge, which facilitates cellular endocytosis of siCD24-loaded nanoparticles.

Exploring the impact of electrocardiographic parameters on the risk of common arrhythmias: a two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: Observational studies have shown that heart rate (HR), heart rate variability (HRV), P-wave terminal force, P-wave duration, T-wave amplitude and PR interval are associated with risk factors for atrial fibrillation (AF) or bradycardia. Arrhythmias are associated with many causes of hospitalization. However, observational studies are susceptible to confounding factors that have not yet been identified.

PDE1B, a potential biomarker associated with tumor microenvironment and clinical prognostic significance in osteosarcoma.

PDE1B had been found to be involved in various diseases, including tumors and non-tumors. However, little was known about the definite role of PDE1B in osteosarcoma. Therefore, we mined public data on osteosarcoma to reveal the prognostic values and immunological roles of the PDE1B gene.

The impact of digital inclusive financial development on local government expenditure: Evidence from China.

This paper investigates the impact of digital inclusive financial development on local government expenditure incentives at the income level. It does so by constructing a multi-level government Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) model that incorporates the financial sector. By employing empirical methods that involve uncertainty shocks and counterfactual simulations, the research yields several key findings.

Frailty mediating the causality between leucocyte telomere length and mortality: a cohort study of 440,551 UK Biobank participants.

Introduction: Previous studies reported leucocyte telomere length (LTL) and frailty were associated with mortality, but it remains unclear whether frailty serves as a mediator in the relationship between leucocyte telomere length and mortality risk. This study aimed to evaluate how measuring LTL and frailty can support early monitoring and prevention of risk of mortality from the prospective of predictive, preventive, and personalized medicine (PPPM/3PM).

Methods: We included 440,551 participants from the UK Biobank between the baseline visit (2006-2010) and November 30, 2022.

Chronic exposure to 3,6-dichlorocarbazole exacerbates non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in zebrafish by disrupting lipid metabolism and inducing special lipid biomarker accumulation.

Most previous studies have focused primarily on the adverse effects of environmental chemicals on organisms of good healthy. Although global prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has reached approximately 25%, the impact of environmentally persistent organic chemicals on organisms with NAFLD is substantially unknown. Polyhalogenated carbazoles (PHCZs) as emerging contaminants have been frequently detected in the environment and organisms.

Tissue-specific accumulation, depuration and histopathological effects of 3,6-dichlorocarbazole and 2,7-dibromocarbazole in adult zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Although polyhalogenated carbazoles have been detected with increasing frequency in aquatic ecosystems, their bioaccumulation in fish and corresponding pathological effects related to bioaccumulation are still unclear. Here, we investigated the tissue-specific accumulation, depuration, and histopathological effects of two typical PHCZs, 3,6-dichlorocarbazole (36-CCZ) and 2,7-dibromocarbazole (27-BCZ), in adult zebrafish at three levels (0, 0.15 μg/L (5 × environmentally relevant level), and 50 μg/L (1/10 LC).

Role of AT-rich interaction domain 1A in gastric cancer immunotherapy: Preclinical and clinical perspectives.

The application of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) using monoclonal antibodies has brought about a profound transformation in the clinical outcomes for patients grappling with advanced gastric cancer (GC). Nonetheless, despite these achievements, the quest for effective functional biomarkers for ICI therapy remains constrained. Recent research endeavours have shed light on the critical involvement of modified epigenetic regulators in the pathogenesis of gastric tumorigenesis, thus providing a glimpse into potential biomarkers.

A two-sample Mendelian randomization study of atherosclerosis and dementia.

The causality between atherosclerosis and dementia remains unclear. This study aimed to explore the causal effect of atherosclerosis related indicators on dementia risk based on two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) using summary statistics of genome-wide association studies (GWASs). The inverse variance weighted (IVW) method was performed as the main analysis, supplemented by different sensitivity analyses.

A nanodrug simultaneously inhibits pancreatic stellate cell activation and regulatory T cell infiltration to promote the immunotherapy of pancreatic cancer.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is characterized by a dense extracellular matrix flooded with immune suppressive cells, resulting in extremely poor clinical response to immunotherapy. It has been revealed that the activation of pancreatic stellate cells (PSCs) makes considerable contributions to the immunological "cold" tumor microenvironment (TME). Herein, we developed a polyamino acid-based nanodrug incorporating the PSC activation inhibitor calcipotriol and anti-CXCL12 siRNA.

PEG-Sheddable Nanodrug Remodels Tumor Microenvironment to Promote Effector T Cell Infiltration and Revise Their Exhaustion for Breast Cancer Immunotherapy.

Low infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and their exhaustion manifest the two concurrent main hurdles for achieving effective tumor immunotherapy of triple-negative breast cancer. It is found that Galectin-9 blockage can revise the exhaustion of effector T cells, meanwhile the repolarization of protumoral M2 tumor-associated macrophages (TAMs) into tumoricidal M1-like ones can recruit effector T cells infiltrating into tumor to boost immune responses. Herein, a sheddable PEG-decorated and M2-TAMs targeted nanodrug incorporating Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 6 inhibitor (AS) and anti-Galectin-9 antibody (aG-9) is prepared.

Novel dual CAFs and tumour cell targeting pH and ROS dual sensitive micelles for targeting delivery of paclitaxel to liver cancer.

Tumour development is not only an independent event of genetic mutation and overgrowth of tumour cells but is the result of a synergistic interaction between a malignant tumour and its surrounding tumour stromal microenvironment. In this paper, we address the shortcomings of current tumour therapy by focussing on the tumour itself and the surrounding microenvironment to achieve a two-pronged targeting model. In this paper, a dual-targeting, pH/reactive oxygen species (ROS) sensitive nano-drug delivery system for tumour cells and CAFs was designed.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and risk of malignant brain tumor: A genetic correlation and two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Objective: The relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the risk of malignant brain tumors has always been a concern in the medical field. However, the causal inferences from published observational studies on this issue may be affected by confounders, coinheritability and reverse causality. We aimed to investigate the causal relationship between VEGF and different types of malignant brain tumors.

T cell-mediated targeted delivery of tadalafil regulates immunosuppression and polyamine metabolism to overcome immune checkpoint blockade resistance in hepatocellular carcinoma.

Background: Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) monotherapy provides poor survival benefit in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) due to ICB resistance caused by immunosuppressive tumor microenvironment (TME) and drug discontinuation resulting from immune-related side effects. Thus, novel strategies that can simultaneously reshape immunosuppressive TME and ameliorate side effects are urgently needed.

Methods: Both in vitro and orthotopic HCC models were used to explore and demonstrate the new role of a conventional, clinically used drug, tadalafil (TA), in conquering immunosuppressive TME.

Genetic association and causal inference between lung function and venous thromboembolism.

Background: Previous studies have indicated that lower lung function is related to a higher risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE). However, causal inferences may be affected by confounders, coheritability or reverse causality. We aimed to explore the causal association between lung function and VTE.

Large private shareholders, industrial policies and industrial loans of city commercial banks: Evidence from China.

We show that large private shareholders have an information advantage about their industry; this can alleviate the information asymmetry suffered by banks, and consequently, increase bank lending to these shareholders' industry. Using a sample of Chinese city commercial banks, we show that an increase in the large private shareholders' shareholding of banks increases bank lending to these shareholders' industry. Importantly, using Chinese local government industrial policy as a moderator, we find that industrial policies have a positive and significant moderating effect on the relationship between large private shareholders and banks' industry-specific lending.

Network analysis-based strategy to investigate the protective effect of cepharanthine on rat acute respiratory distress syndrome.

Combined with Network Analysis (NA) and experimental methods, we explored and verified the mechanism of Cepharanthine (CEP) involved in the treatment of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Potential targets of CEP were searched using the SwissTargetPrediction database. The pathogenic genes related to ARDS were obtained using the DisGeNET database.

Vascular endothelial growth factor and the risk of venous thromboembolism: a genetic correlation and two-sample Mendelian randomization study.

Background: The relationship between vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the risk of venous thromboembolism (VTE) has always been one of the concerns in the medical field. However, the causal inferences from published observational studies on this issue may be affected by confounders or reverse causality. We performed a two-sample bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR) to infer the associations between VEGF and VTE.

The influence of the largest private shareholder on bank loans: Evidence from China.

We point out that the largest private shareholders can use their information advantage of the industry to influence banks' industry lending behavior. Using a sample of Chinese city commercial banks, we find that increasing of ownership stake of the largest private shareholders leads banks to lend more to their industries. Interestingly, the largest state-owned shareholders do not have this effect.

D-tagatose protects against oleic acid-induced acute respiratory distress syndrome in rats by activating PTEN/PI3K/AKT pathway.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is characterized by disruption of the alveolar-capillary barrier, resulting in severe alveolar edema and inflammation. D-tagatose (TAG) is a low-calorie fructose isomer with diverse biological activities whose role in ARDS has never been explored. We found that TAG protects lung tissues from injury in the oleic acid-induced rat model of ARDS.

Performance of a Three-Dimensional Electrochemical Reactor (3DER) on Bisphenol A Degradation.

This study constructed a three-dimensional electrochemical reactor (3DER) using meshed stainless steel sheets and titanic magnetite particles (TMP) to investigate bisphenol A (BPA) degradation through the synergistic action of electrical current and TMP. We examined some TMP characteristics, such as particle size, specific surface areas, X-ray diffraction, surface imaging, elemental constituents, and electrical resistivity. It was found that TMP was a micron-level material with excellent electrical conductivity, and it could be regarded as a magnetite-based material comprising Fe(II) and Fe(III).

Natural Compound Library Screening Identifies Oroxin A for the Treatment of Myocardial Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury (MI/RI) is a serious pathophysiological process relating to cardiovascular disease. Oroxin A (OA) is a natural flavonoid glycoside with various biological activities. However, its effect on the pathophysiological process of MI/RI has not yet been reported.